Yarn clearer



J. O. M KEAN April 26, 1938.

YARN CLEARER Filed Oct. 29, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 26, 1938 UNITED STATES YARN OLEARER John. 0.: McKean, Westfield, Mass, assignor to.-

Foster Machine Company, Westfield, Mass a... corporation. of Massachusetts.

Application October 29, 1936, Serial No. 108,169"

.10 Claims. (01. 28-458) In yarn winding machines it has been found that with some yarns a single slub catcher is not sufiicient to properly clear the yarn. Therefore, it has been usual to provide separately mounted slub catchers through which the yarnwas caused to pass on its way to the winding machine. This separate mounting of the slub catchers not only entailed the additional expense of the separate mountings but also required independent adjustments of the slub catchers. This separate mounting of the different slub catchers was also cumbersomeand required additional skill and time to properly adjust the slub catchers with respect to each other and the machine, and also presented difiiculties in the threading of the yarn without tangling it.

This present invention is designed to obviate the difficulties-aboveset forth, by mounting the slub catchers on a common supportand providing a single means for simultaneously adjusting the movable members of the-slub catchers. This present invention also provides acommon guard for the slub catchers and the tension device where it is used; for ensuring the proper threading of" the yarn therethrough.

Practical embodiments of my invention are represented in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents one form ofmy yarn clearer in top plan;

Fig. 2 represents a side view of the same;

Fig. 3 represents a vertical longitudinal section taken in the planes of the line III-III- of Fig. 1, looking in the direction oi'the arrows;

Fig. 4 represents another form of my yarn clearer in top plan;

Fig. 5 represents a side view of the same; and

Fig. 6 represents a vertical longitudinal section taken in the planes of the line VI-VI ofFig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The yarn clearer in connection with which I have chosen to illustrate my invention is of the resilient yoke type comprising integrally connected lower and upper branches. The lower branch of the yoke is in the form of a skeleton frame having longitudinally disposed sides I and 2 connected at their front ends by a fork providing a yarn entrance groove 3 between the prongs 4 and 5, and at their rear ends by'crossbars 6 and 1 which serve respectively as the stationary lower members of'aslubcatcher of the comb type and a slub catcher of the blade type.

Immediately to the rear of the yarn entrance groove 3 the lower branch of the yokeisprov'lded with a spider, the arms 8; 9"- and: l0 of which form a base support'for the usual yarntension device of the weighted Washer" type. A pin H. uprises from the spider, on which pin the lower washer I2, the upper washer I 3 and the weights Mare allloosely mounted. a 1 1 In the form shown in Figs. 1. to 3 inclusive, the resilient upper-branch li of" the yokeis provided with a laterally disposed bar lGfwhich is developed into the upper member of the slub catcher of the blade-type; which upper member coacts with the lower blade member 1.

This resilient upper branch I 5 of the yoke is also provided-with an uprising ear I! to which is yieldingly pivoted a crossbar I8 carrying the comb member l9 which coacts with the lower member 6 to form theslub catcher of the comb type. The yielding pivotal connection between the crossbar" I 8 and the ear I? is herein providedfor by mounting a lug 20- projecting rearwardly from the crossbar l8 on a pin 2| projecting laterally from the ear H; A spring 22 serves to yieldingly holdthe stop screw 23*against the upper branch lfi of the yoke to maintain the comb in its adjusted position. It will be seen that the lower and upper blademembers'l and It of the slub catcher of the blade type areformed integral with the lower" and upper branches respectively of the resilient yoke. It will also be seen that thelower member 6 of the slub catcher of the comb type is formed" integral with the lower branch oft-he said resilient yoke, while the upper member IS with' its comb l9 is'pivotedto the upper branch it? of the said yoke.

The simultaneous adjustment of the upper members of both the slub-catcher of theblade type and the slub catcher of the'comb type is provided for by a'si'ngledevice-as follows:

An adjusting screw has its head 24 countersunk in the upper branch lot the resilient yoke and its shank 25' passes therethrough into threaded engagement with the side I' o l? the lower branch of the yoke.

' An upwardly yielding swinging guard 21% is provided for-"guiding the yarn into its running positionthrough the tension device and both of the slub catchers when threading up theyarn. The said guard serves to prevent the unintensional misthreading of the yarn and. its consequent tangling; Thisguardin; its operative position projects overthe tension' device to prevent the unintentional removal of the tension washers. This guard is also provided with a bar 2? extending along the sides of the slub catchers toensure the proper threading of the yarnbetween the tension washers andthrough the slub-catchers. 55

The outer end of the guard bar 21 is turned inwardly to form a prong 28 which snaps into a hole 29 in the end of the upper cross member IE to yieldingly hold the guard in its operative position. Also the prong 28 fitting into the hole 29 in the end of the upper cross member l6 serves to bridge the gap and prevent the yarn getting caught between the ends of the guard and the cross member, thus ensuring the uninterrupted passage of the yarn through the blade slub catcher.

The guard is mounted for upwardly yielding and swinging movements as follows:

A pin 30 uprises from the lower branch of the yoke, upon which pin is rotatably mounted the depending hub 3| of the guard 26. A coil spring 32 is located around the pin 30 within a socket 33 in the hub 3|, between the bottom of the socket and the head of the pin for permitting an upwardly yielding movement of the guard.

In the form shown in Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive, the slub catcher of the blade type is located between the tension device and the slub catcher of the comb type. In this form the guard bar 34 extends upwardly from the lower branch I of the yoke and it is provided with a prong 35 which snaps into a hole 36 in the end of the guard bar 26 to yieldingly hold the guard bar in its operative position.

It will be seen that by mounting the slub catchers on a single support, a single device may be used for simultaneously adjusting the movable members of the slub catchers to suit yarns of different sizes and characteristics. Furthermore, it will be seen that by this arrangement a single guard may be used for both of the slub catchers as well as for the tension device when combined therewith, which guard may be swung on pin 30 out of the way for clearing the slub catchers as well as for gaining access to the .tension device.

It will be seen also that by placing the slub catchers in tandem formation the yarn may be passed in a right line therethrough.

It will also be seen that the movable members of the slub catchers are maintained in parallelism with their coacting members as the movable members are adjusted to suit yarns of various sizes.

It will also be seen that by providing a plurality of slub catchers through which the yarn is caused to run, the quality of the yarn is improved.

It is evident that various changes may be resorted to in the construction, form and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not intend to be limited to the particular embodiments herein shown and described.

What I claim is:

1. In a yarn clearer, upper and lower supporting members, a plurality of slub catchers having complementary elements carried by said upper and lower members arranged to permit the insertion of the yarn between said elements simultaneously by a lateral movement, and single means for varying the distance between said upper and lower members to simultaneously adjust the relationship of the said elements.

2. In a yarn clearer, upper and lower supporting members, a plurality of slub catchers having complementary elements carried by said upper and lower members arranged to permit the insertion of the yarn between said elements simultaneously by a lateral movement, single means for varying the distance between said upper and lower members to simultaneously adjust the relationship of the said elements, and a guard located in position to direct the yarn simultane ously between the said elements when the yarn is being threaded.

3. In a yarn clearer, upper and lower supporting members, slub catchers of both the comb and blade types having complementary elements carried by said upper and lower members arranged to permit the insertion of the yarn between said elements simultaneously by a lateral movement, a tension device located in line with said slub catchers, single means for varying the distance between said upper and lower members to simultaneously adjust the relationship of the said elements, and a guard located in position to direct the yarn simultaneously into said tension device and between the said elements when the yarn is being threaded.

4. In a yarn clearer, upper and lower supporting members, slub catchers of both the comb and blade types having complementary elements carried by said upper and lower members arranged to permit the insertion of the yarn between said elements simultaneously by a lateral movement, a tension device located in line with said slub catchers, single means for varying the distance between said upper and lower members to simultaneously adjust the relationship of the said elements, and a guard located in position to direct the yarn simultaneously into said tension device and between the said elements when the yarn is being threaded, said guard being also adapted to prevent the accidental disassembly of the tension device.

5. In a yarn clearer, upper and lower supporting members, slub catchers of both the comb and blade types having complementary elements carried by said upper and lower members arranged to permit the insertion of the yarn between said elements simultaneously by a lateral movement, single means for varying the distance between said upper and lower members to simultaneously adjust the relationship of the said elements, and a vertically yielding and laterally swingable guard located in position to direct the yarn simultaneously between the said elements when the yarn is being threaded.

6. In a yarn clearer, upper and lower supporting members, slub catchers of both the comb and blade types having complementary elements carried by said upper and lower members arranged to permit the insertion of the yarn between said elements simultaneously by a lateral movement, a tension device located in line with said slub catchers, single means for varying the distance between said upper and lower members to simultaneously adjust the relationship of the said elements, and a vertically yielding and laterally swingable guard located in position to direct the yarn simultaneously into said tension device and between the said elements when the yarn is being threaded.

7. In a yarn clearer, upper and lower supporting members, slub catchers of both the comb and blade types having complementary elements carried by said upper and lower members arranged to permit the insertion of the yarn between said elements simultaneously by a lateral movement, a tension device located in line with said slub catchers, single means for varying the distance between said upper and lower members to simultaneously adjust the relationship of the said elements, and a vertically yielding and laterally swingable guard located in position to direct the yarn simultaneously into said tension device and between the said elements when the yarn is being threaded, said guard being also adapted to prevent the accidental disassembly of the tension device.

8. In a yarn clearer, upper and lower elongated supporting members, slub catchers of both the comb and blade types having complementary elements transversely disposed in said members, a tension device mounted in one of said members in line with said slub catchers, a guard extending transversely of said members to prevent accidental disassembly of the tension device and extending longitudinally of said members to direct the yarn simultaneously into said tension device and between the said elements when the yarn is being threaded.

9. In yarn clearer, a resilient yoke, slub catchers of both the comb and blade types comprising upper and lower blade members, both members of the blade slub catcher being formed integral with the yoke, the lower member of the comb slub catcher being formed integral with the yoke and the upper member being mounted on the yoke, and means for springing the yoke to simultaneously adjust both slub catchers.

10. In a yarn clearer, a resilient yoke having upper and lower branches, slub catchers of both the comb and blade types comprising upper and lower members, both members of the blade slub catcher being formed integral with said upper and lower branches respectively, the lower member of the comb slub catcher being formed integral with the lower branch of the yoke and the upper member being mounted on the upper branch of the yoke, and means for springing the yoke to simultaneously adjust both slub catchers.

JOHN O. MCKEAN. 

